


Tears Like Secrets

by second_hand_heaven



Category: DCU
Genre: (because this is bruce we're talking about), (hinted at), Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Pining, Polyamory, Pre-Relationship, Secrets, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/second_hand_heaven/pseuds/second_hand_heaven
Summary: "They find him in the den, kneeling by the fire. Bruce’s knees ache, a fiery burn that’s going to be a bitch when he tries to stand later. The sofa is only a few feet behind him, plush and welcoming to his weary joints, but the pain in his knees, his ankles, is grounding, comforting. He deserves it, after all. He deserves pain and nothing more."Bruce's secret gets revealed in the course of a League mission. Clark and Diana are there for the aftermath.Sequel foundhere





	Tears Like Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> For the lovely Megan who asked for the prompt "It's okay to cry" with superwonderbat

 

They find him in the den, kneeling by the fire. Bruce’s knees ache, a fiery burn that’s going to be a bitch when he tries to stand later. The sofa is only a few feet behind him, plush and welcoming to his weary joints, but the pain in his knees, his ankles, is grounding, comforting. He deserves it, after all. He deserves pain and nothing more.   
  
“Bruce? There you are!” Clark says, as if he could ever lose track of where Bruce was. He knows the extent of Clark’s senses, knows how the alien can track heartbeats and scents better than almost any other. Bruce could never hide from Clark, not that he truly ever tried. Even now, with all his sense screaming to retreat, he stays right where he is, kneeling on the hardwood floor of the den, a dull ache settling in his joints as he sits back on his ankles. He needs the pain, needs the distraction it brings. Pain keeps the thoughts and feelings and tears at bay, and he can’t let any of them slip out, not now. 

He doesn’t turn to look at them, just stares into the empty fireplace. The last remnants of the fire burning during last week’s cold snap have been swept away, barely a trace of ash left behind. How Alfred manages, he’ll never know. It’s cold today, a chill in the house that seeps through his slate-grey suit pants and white shirt. He should start the fire, just like he’s done so many times before, but doing so means moving, seeing Clark and Diana’s pitying looks, and Bruce can’t face that -or them- right now. Not when they know how he feels, what he wants from them.

He hears them cross the room, their footsteps light across the floorboards. Clark’s still in his suit, by the sounds of his cape trailing behind, flapping softly with each step. Diana, though, lacks the usual clatter of her armour. She’s in something soft, like sweatpants, muffling the sound of each step. Diana sits on the floor beside him, legs crossed. She’s close enough to touch, but neither of them move. “What troubles you?” she asks, and Bruce barely contains a scoff. What troubles him? Where should he start? Lies hang on his tongue, scathing and sharp, but no, he can’t lie to her. If Bruce could never hide himself from Clark, he also could never hide his own feelings from Diana. Could never hide the truth, no matter how much he wanted to. Especially now…  
  
Bruce grunts out, “I’m fine,” but his voice suggests otherwise, roughened by tears he refuses to shed. He’d stormed out earlier and he’s tempted to do it again. Confrontation isn’t exactly his strong suit, not when he’s the one being confronted, laid bear for all to see.

It was a cheap trick by the villain the League faced, a dark magician who dealt in secrets and thrived off of the humiliation of bringing one’s deepest truths out into the light. An utter bastard in a silver cloak, the League nearly had him defeated. Zatanna almost had the villain fully subdued, but no, it was never that simple. He wanted one more secret, one more secret then he would leave Earth alone. Secret identities were off the table, the magician decided. No, he wanted something sweeter, something romantic, and Bruce was always the type to make the sacrifice play. He couldn’t look at Clark and Diana afterward, couldn’t bear to see their disgust. He walked away, head high and chest hollow, desperate to forget that his teammates, his _friends_ , just found out he was in love with them.

Bruce scrubs a hand across his face, trying to wipe away the shame. How dare he ever hope to love, how dare he hope that it could be returned. He needs to leave, needs to get out of here. He can’t stand their presence, their light, their compassion. They should have left him, let him suffer alone. Having them here, in his sanctuary, is unbearable. He needs to leave. He makes to stand, when Diana says what she knows always manages to break him, “Bruce, please.”  
  
A traitorous tear slips from his lashes, trailing slowly along his cheekbone. His face burns in anger, in humiliation. Bruce tries to duck his head, turn away from them, but there’s no hiding from either of them. He shakes his head, they wouldn’t understand. He can’t cry, he can’t, not here, not with them. To cry is to be vulnerable, and to be vulnerable is to trust those around you. To trust is to love, and he can’t, he  _will not_. He can’t be vulnerable, not as Batman, not as Bruce, and certainly not here in front of Clark and Diana. Because they know him, they know what his trust means. And if they know…  
  
“It’s okay,” Clark says, a warm hand landing on Bruce’s shoulder. He’s tempted to shrug it off, and maybe it would be better if he did, but there’s a guilty piece of him that wants their comfort, that wants Clark’s touch and Diana’s words. He can’t have it, he can’t have their love. He doesn’t deserve it, doesn’t deserve their light, no matter how much he wants it.   
  
“You can trust us,” Diana says, cradling Bruce’s hand in her own like it’s something precious, something to treasure.  _You can love us._ Bruce wants to rip his hand away, but her grasp is unyielding. “We won’t let you fall.”  
  
Falling, falling like Tim? Tim had Dick to catch him. No, falling like those he could never save. Too much falling, falling from buildings, from planes, falling in Gotham Harbor, falling in love. Diana says she won’t let him fall, but he’s already fallen. Hard. 

There’s no hiding it now, no hiding the way his heart is smeared against the sidewalk alongside his self-preservation and better judgement.

“Bruce, we, I,” she sighs, trying to find the right words. Bruce hasn’t seen her this lost before, and something aches in his chest. He caused this, he hurt them, this is his fault. “We care about you,” she ends up saying, interlacing her fingers with Bruce’s.

“We do,” Clark echoes, “so you don’t need to hide from us. We trust you, Bruce, and we need you to trust us.”   
  
“I trust you.” Bruce’s words are choked but he doesn’t care.  "I trust you,“ he says again, pouring all that he can into it. He respects them, he trusts them, he loves them. How can that be anything but obvious?   
  
Clark squeezes Bruce’s shoulder, like he’s done so many times before, but Bruce melts into the touch. “It’s okay to cry, B,” Clark says, as if giving Bruce permission to be weak. Vulnerable. Loved.   
  
Bruce shakes his head, tears falling in earnest. The hand at his shoulder traces up the cords of his neck, following the line of his jaw, his cheeks, catching Bruce’s tears on powerful fingertips. Bruce leans into the touch, the warmth of Clark’s hand drawing him closer, like a cat to a ray of sunlight.   
  
They need to talk about it later, and they will. Diana will make certain of that. But for now Bruce just cries, because he can, because he is allowed, and sobs, “I trust you,” again for good measure. They have to know what that means, what  _he_  means.   
  
Diana just smiles, squeezing Bruce’s hand in a way that feels a lot like, _“I love you too.”_

 

_FIN_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments and Kudos are always welcome.
> 
> Feel free to come chat with me on [tumblr](second-hand-heaven.tumblr.com)
> 
> -Nova xx


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